Semipalmated Plover

Charadrius semipalmatus

'Plover' probably goes back to the Latin pluvia, 'rain,' the root of 'pluvial,' though why a shorebird got a rain name is debated. 'Semipalmated' means 'half-webbed,' for the small webs between its toes.

Charadrius comes from the Greek kharadrios, a bird of ravines and river valleys (kharadra, 'ravine'). Semipalmatus joins the Latin semi, 'half,' and palma, 'palm.'